MANUFACTURERS

SEARCH

Report finds Apple plans for driverless cars

A report has found that technology giant Apple is miles ahead when it comes to the development of autonomous cars.

The Guardian reported that members of Apple’s Special Project group have been negotiating with the owners of a former naval base – named GoMentum – near San Francisco in order to transform the land into a testing ground for driverless cars.

It has been revealed that there has been detailed correspondence between both Apple and the site officials concerning the changing of the site into a testing area.

With 20 miles of paved highways and city streets, the area would be the ideal place in which to test driverless cars away from prying eyes.

Rumours of Apple producing a car have surrounded the company since 2007 and the project is said to run under the name ‘Project Titan’. Apple chiefs are known to have toured BMW’s factory in the early part of this year as part of the process, and have acquired top-ranking staff from companies such as Ford and Mercedes to help with the development of the autonomous vehicle.

Producing an Apple car was also reported to have been a dream for late company boss Steve Jobs.

The Guardian also reported that Apple has engineers working on automotive design and technology in Sunnyvale, California.

The information was acquired by The Guardian using a public records act request. This allowed them to find out about correspondence as well as Apple’s interest in a driverless car development site.

Apple has shown its interest in the automotive sector publicly in recent years. This comes through its CarPlay connectivity devices, which helped increase the links between Apple and larger automotive companies.